Hi there,
I'm new to the forum and would appreciate any advice on how to best help my mom. She is 82, a widow, and living alone in a two-story older home. She's still driving and has a circle of friends she sees regularly, but she's also very lonely and spends a lot of her day alone at home. My brother lives in the same city and helps as much as she will allow; I live in another province but call home almost every day and fly back a few times a year.
The problem is, although mom is now experiencing some mild cognitive decline and hearing loss (also mild), she doesn't want any help, or believe she needs any help. She also refuses to plan for the future and doesn't want to discuss it. For example, the main bathroom is badly in need of a renovations and she's taking sponge baths because she can't easily navigate the tub/shower. She also can't manage cleaning such a large house, and as a result when I visited over the recent holidays, there were layers of dust everywhere, expired food in the fridge, and the floors haven't been washed in some time. She's very independent and wants to stay in own home, so conversations about moving to a seniors complex or assisted living are always rejected. She has the money to renovate and hire people to come in and help with cleaning, cooking and eventually with nursing care if needed, but she won't do that. Yesterday over the phone, I suggested a company that specializes in in-home care for seniors, that can provide housekeeping services. She was open to the idea until I offered to call and set up the initial consultation, then she got angry and shut the conversation down. She gets equally angry/offended when I bring up her hearing loss, or her driving - which has deteriorated markedly in the past year or so. She seems to equate aging with failure, so any attempts to talk with her about changes in her health are taken as criticism.
My dad died of dementia in March of 2021 after a long illness, and I was hopeful that she would eventually be able to bounce back and be able to enjoy life again. She was a wonderful and caring mom, who gave so much (maybe too much) to everyone else in her family - now we'd like to be able to help her and give back, but she just refuses to see/accept that she needs any help. I've been trying for a few years to gently and considerately suggest some practical changes that would help, as well as encouraging her to get back into a hobby, or other ways to get more social/emotional support. But she is becoming increasingly resistant to change of any kind.
The burden on me has been intense for a long time - I helped her navigate through both my dad's illness and then his death, and she expects/looks forward to a phone call almost daily from me. At the same time, I have a husband and two children, one teen and one in university, plus a career (oh yeah, and two dogs and a cat). My husband's mom died of cancer a few years ago and recently his dad had surgery to remove cancer that had recurred. Managing/balancing all of this has become overwhelming at times - and while perhaps my mom thinks her independence is helpful, it's adding so much stress to my life as well as hers.
Sorry for the long rant, but if anyone has been in a similar situation and has advice, I'd really appreciate it! I can't force her to accept help, but I'm also becoming more worried about her safety, and potentially (if her driving gets worse) the safety of others. Not sure at this point what to do next!
...and just because it has happened, make sure that her lack of hearing is not due to excessive ear wax.
About house cleaning: Is she one of those people who is very picky about who comes into their house? How often do you see her? How about if you give her a gift of 2 hours of house cleaning a month for a year. I would start with just dusting, and cleaning the floors and doing bathrooms. Unless your Mom is okay with the housekeeper doing the dishes, I would NOT have the housekeeper do anything in the kitchen except the floors. I think it is important at this first "toe-dip", for the housecleaner not to do too much. You are trying to gain trust to allow a stranger to come into the house, but not do so much that it seems invasive. If your Mom is unable to find things after the housekeeper is there, it will ALWAYS be blamed on the housekeeper. I would have you or your brother (or his wife, if your Mom likes his wife) be in the house with your Mom while the housekeeper is there. Your Mom is going to feel threatened and it is very helpful if you or your brother was there to act as a go-between.
After she gets used to it, then the house keeper can work on the kitchen, not the refrigerator, but just cleaning the sink, the microwave, the stove and the countertops (floors were done earlier). Small baby steps.
I personally have issues with someone else going through my refrigerator and throwing things out. Therefore, unless your Mom seems willing, I would not have the housekeeper do that, unless it is under your Mom's guidance and even then, that would be risky because your Mom may not remember that she told the housekeeper to toss something.
Laundry is also very personal. My Mom didn't want anyone touching her undergarments.
My Mom was convinced that her house was clean enough that she only needed the housekeeper once a month. In fact, she would pay for 2 hours and only allow the housekeeper to do a little over 1 hour of work, insisting that that was all that was needed. Slowly, my Mom would save the difficult stuff for the housekeeper (e.g. changing the sheets on the bed), but never the laundry. The housekeeper never stayed longer than 1.5 hours, but she was paid for 2 hours.
Even when my Mom became incontinent, my Mom couldn't understand why she needed a housekeeper every week. My sister struck up a deal where my Mom would pay for once a month and my sister would pay for the other weeks of the month.
If your Mom is like my Mom, she didn't want any in-home care. She was worried that they might steal from her and she would not be able to protect herself. Unless you see in-home care happening soon, I would just try to get a housekeeper in. Her friends probably already have a housekeeper so that idea would not be too foreign to her.
Baby steps.....one toe at a time.
About the renovations: How about if you/your brother give her gift of renovation. For instance, the first step would be to install grab bars. The gift would be actually finding and hiring and scheduling someone to do these things. For your Mom, just the act of finding someone can be an overwhelming task, hence, it doesn't get done.
Legally everyone including elderly have right to make own decision so long as they are not a threat to themselves or others, can do five acts of daily living and no doctors have tested them for inability to care for themselves.
My Mum has two broken hips, had kidney cancer and moderate dimentia and doctors say she can still reside alone. It is hard for elderly to be moved from only home thy know, away from their usual routine even if alone. It can make any mental health worse to move them prematurely. And it won’t mKe your life easier. You will have same amount od duties just different ones if they reside with you or assisted or memory care.
If she refuses to leave her home and physicans refuse to sign off that she can’t care for herself, then u fortunately you have to wait for a disaster like a fall or similar. But people recover from falls like my tiny Mum of 4-11 and 85 lbs.
And assisted and memory care or your home isn’t necessarily safer. My mother in law fell twice with personal assistant with her in assisted living. A luxury assisted living. So don’t think the grass is always greener.
Often an event will occur that causes them to be moved out. Sometimes you just have to wait. It’s their legal right.
Good luck. It’s a tough situation. But this is the law.
All this said, my mother and your mother are grown adults and can make their own decisions. If your mother is still of sound mind, you might want to explore having her sign a POA so that when dementia does take over, you/your brother can help make critical decisions for her. I am personally setting stricter boundaries and reducing the effort I put in when I know my mom can do certain things and make requests on her own, but just doesn't 'fell like it' or it's too inconvenient for her to do. It is hard to do and watch, but if there are no consequences and you always pick up the pieces, they will never change for the better.
BUT, my Mom was as yours: VERY resistant to accepting in help or her old Housekeeper (who stopped when Covid hit). She got used to my 2-3 visits per month (2 hrs drive each way) and my evening phone calls. She was VERYYY bored but even more resistant.
I had emailed her Doctor more than 5 times to check in/to ask if my approach was the right one. She continued to validate that I couldn't force her. And told me my Mom would be kicked out of any AL type of living situation.
I thought I might interview "with her" part time Caregivers/Companions after her supposed (she passed before this) Jan 4th appt. My Mom was sedentary & extremely negative.. Her body appears to have locked up & the fall ensued. You might tell this story to your Mom..
EVERY idea I ever had was met with a "NOOOOOO!" & criticisms/cussing...
I was in the same boat as you. I did trash-dishes-watering of plants & errands with her each visit, but she needed more help. No way in HELL was I going to move in or vice versa. She knew I had career & grown Kids that lived near to me...
She was terrified of accepting in strangers, as a result of not being a neighborly type & not having friendships..
Maybe your next visit up you can have a few people come around for a quick interview? Maybe their 1st time there for a few hours you can be there?
Sure is frustrating. I feel your pain...
I feel it was manipulative on my Mom's part. She figured if she kept resisting, ultimately she would get her way & I would move in with her. It would have destroyed me on all levels.. It didn't play out this way....
Now I spend every week up there purging: what to trash-donate-keep...
Surreal..
I read a lot on this forum people saying that safety supersedes freedom and that it’s our duty to place them so they are safe. I think about this a lot. Is it? Is dying in your own home from a fall or stroke or infection or anything really, REALLY worse than dying slowly over years without your marbles or physical abilities in a facility? Only you can answer that question for yourself.
You are doing what you can, and sometimes you have to accept that is all you can do and cut yourself some slack. This is a horrible disease that nobody is prepared to deal with. Find your way day by day and just do what you can. That’s all anybody can ask for and we should all be lucky as we age that we have someone willing to look after us in any capacity.
“We want autonomy for ourselves and safety for those we love. That remains the main problem and paradox for the frail. Many of the things that we want for those we care about are things that we would adamantly oppose for ourselves because they would infringe upon our sense of self.”
At some point, whether soon or farther into the future, whoever is the responsible party will be obligated to “force her”.
Most of us here have experienced being in that painful but necessary situation. I certainly was. Ultimately my feisty LO began to experience falls and grew frightened living in her old, difficult to navigate home.
It was as painful to those of us who loved her as it was for her, but we had to take charge.
She entered a very pleasant AL, but after a rocky and unsatisfactory adjustment period we were all convinced that she really needed to be in the step up memory care unit, and she did well there until her first COVID infection.
This process is not easy for anyone involved, ever. It is overwhelming at best.
No easy answers, but lots of us who understand.
He could no longer go up and down the stairs, so he was living in his basement, also taking sponge baths like your mom is doing, and got a UTI and sepsis. He nearly died.
That is when my cousins forced him to go into a facility. My cousins refused to continue to care for him. It was too difficult for them to take off of work and tend to all of his needs.
My uncle adjusted to being in a facility and his children visited him without the responsibility and stress of being his hands on caregivers.
Your mom really should make plans for her future. She has more years behind her than ahead of her. How much time does she think she has left to plan? She should start looking now because some places have wait lists.
Wishing you and your family all the best.
Can your brother get involved to try to convince mom to get the house in better repair, to stop driving, to move into managed care or senior living of some kind? If not, you'll have to likely wait for a crisis to occur which FORCES her out of her home and into managed care by the doctors at the hospital. This often happens with cases such as your mom's. It really is unfortunate that elders are so stubborn they wind up having their choices taken away from them, ultimately! Had they made a wise choice to begin with, such things wouldn't happen where they're forced into managed care one day after a crisis. But that's the way it often goes, unfortunately.
Perhaps you and your brother can put your heads together and come up with a plan of action to get mom's house fixed up/cleaned up, and her car disabled so she can't drive. Maybe then she'd be more agreeable to moving into Assisted Living if she has no reliable transportation. I'm all for using whatever means are required to disable elder's cars who are driving with dementia at play.
Wishing you the best of luck with a very difficult situation.
We are working on a plan to renovate and bring in care as needed, the tricky part is getting her to accept it before there's a crisis. Having been through dementia with my dad, I am very aware of how this could progress, but I want her to be able to stay in her own home for as long as possible. I also don't want to force her unless it's absolutely necessary.
As far as "she looks on it as failure", in a very real sense that's exactly what it is. I am 80 and I know that. Failure of muscles, balance, mind, abilities that are inexhorably happening day by day; and having the history of your Dad she knows what that means. And using denial NOT to know it.
Clearly she is not downsizing and that means she has been a long time in denial. She has not moved, downsized, and made plans. This leaves it to you and your brother OR NOT.
We have had forum members who tried and tried and tried to get their elders to accept some kind of help, eventually some move, and because the senior was not diagnosed as not competent to manage their own affairs the kids were helpless. I remember one woman in particular who always updated us and whose Mom did, yes, eventually collapse and die on the floor at home. Without a diagnose you can suggest, and no more.
Eventually this will come to a head. There will be a fall, a collapse of some kind, and a hospitalization if your Mom doesn't die at home. That is the time to call in the troops for social services to force assessment and to get emergency guardianship if needed. Once you have that, you can do placement if Mom is no longer competent to make her own decisions. However, if you are not living where she is that would be impossible to manage. Would your brother do it? Is he willing. It is a massive undertaking and I would never do it for an unwilling uncooperative elder as I did it for one totally downsized, totally cooperative, totally willing (in fact ASKING ME to take over all finances), and it was still very hard work.
This is a dilemma. Some elders wish to die in their home and they force this to be the case no matter WHAT you and your Country attempt to do to intervene. If that is the case there is little you can do other than the sibling who DOES live there to check, and the one who does not to make daily calls with agreement with Mom that she will answer a daily call.
So sorry. Wish I had better ideas or news and hope that others do, and I welcome you to Forum.
I do have POA but not guardianship, and so far she stills seems to be able to manage her finances and still enjoys doing that. She definitely has been in denial for some time about her physical decline, and I also think the grief over losing my dad caused some depression. I do know her family doctor (he was my doctor when I lived there), so I'm thinking about calling him to see if he will have her come in for a check up. Perhaps a diagnosis from her physician will help her accept reality.
I agree that eventually things will come to a head, I'm just hoping and I can convince her to accept our help while the decline is still mild and before there is a fall or worse. I'm not expecting any magic solutions, but talking about it is definitely helpful.